Big things are coming from Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants! This giant sourcebook will take you into the worlds of giantkind. Here, you’ll explore the rich history of these primordial creatures, get a look into the powerful places that tie into their society, and be able to harness the power of giants with new character options!

In this article, we’ll be exploring the giant foundling background and the Strike of the Giants feat, so let’s make like a stone giant and get rolling!

• Giant Foundling Background
• Giant Foundling Features
• Strike of the Giants Feat
• Building a Giant Foundling Character

The Giant Foundling Background

Every adventurer’s story is different. Some begin with a typical upbringing in the heart of a bustling city or the tranquility of a small village. In contrast, others have more extraordinary beginnings, like those that take the giant foundling background.

Through whatever happenstance, these adventurers have grown up among the towering figures of giantkind. Just as every adventurer’s story is different, so is that of every giant foundling. Maybe you were found as a baby by a nomadic family of giants who raised you. Or perhaps you fell into a stone chasm and were rescued by stone giants.

Either way, living among giants as a Medium- or Small-sized creature is bound to have a profound impact on your life. To put it in perspective, most giants are Huge creatures. The smallest giants of the ordning are hill giants, who stand at around 16 feet tall. Growing up in surroundings engineered for creatures at least double your size means everyday activities like eating, sleeping, or navigating your home have been a challenge that requires innovation and adaptation.

You’re used to everything from doorways to utensils being oversized, and simple tasks like fetching an object from a high shelf or crossing a wide chasm that giants easily stride become significant hurdles.

Giant Foundling Features

Based on the challenges giant foundlings would face in their youth, growing up around giants will change their mindset and make them develop skills unique to their situation.

Skill Proficiencies

Giant foundlings gain proficiency in Intimidation and Survival:

Intimidation. Being the smallest person in the room could mean some of the more closed-minded giants will try to pick on you. Or, you could have learned how to portray yourself with a giant’s aura of might and dominance from your parents and siblings. One thing’s for sure, when you adventure out into the world of normal-sized people, you’ll be ready to show them who’s boss.

Survival. Giants tend to be more in tune with their natural surroundings. As they are entwined with the elements they represent and tend to live a more remote life than other species that dwell in large groups and cities, they are well equipped to live off the land.

Languages and Equipment

As a giant foundling, you gain proficiency in the language of giants, symbolizing your learned ability to communicate with your adoptive families and neighbors. You also gain proficiency in a second language, perhaps reflecting the region you grew up in or the people you and the giants frequently traded with or even fought.

Every adventurer carries a piece of their past when they leave home, granted by their background. For a giant foundling, this includes a backpack, a set of traveler's clothes, and a small stone or sprig that serves as a heartfelt memento of their unique home. They also start their journey with 10 gp, perhaps saved up from when they were paid to clean out the giant goat’s stables.

Size and Abilities

By spending so much time around giantkind, giant foundlings absorb some of the primeval magic that resonates from these Huge creatures. This results in giant foundlings growing abnormally large for their species. What that might mean for your particular character depends on your character’s species and the campaign world you’re playing in, so talk to your Dungeon Master to establish something fitting.

Your link to giants also provides you with the Strike of the Giants feat at 1st level, which is discussed below.

Strike of the Giants Feat

Giants are some of the oldest creatures to have walked the world. These primeval, mighty beings come in a variety of subspecies that are each tied to a natural force:

• Cloud Giants. Attuned to the magic of their airy domains, cloud giants can turn into mist and create clouds of fog.
• Fire Giants. Skilled artisans and warriors, fire giants are forged in their volcanic fortresses as much as in combat.
• Frost Giants. Frost giants live in icy regions and respect brute strength above all else.
• Hill Giants. The blunt and direct hill giants equate size to power, meaning anything smaller than them is likely to be looked down upon, both literally and figuratively.
• Stone Giants. These artisans dwell deep beneath the earth and tend to keep to themselves, though they are more than able to throw boulders at those that invade their privacy.
• Storm Giants. The most powerful of the giant subspecies, storm giants prefer to view the happenings of the world and omens from the sky from their lofty fortresses.

When you take the Strike of the Giants feat, it represents your gained ability to channel an echo of the magic that imbues the various types of giants into your strikes.

Feat Benefits

When you take this feat, you can choose from six options based on the type of giants you have associated yourself with. Whichever option you choose, you can use it once per turn after you hit a target with a melee attack or a ranged weapon attack made with a thrown weapon. Your save DC for effects that require a save is 8 + your proficiency bonus + Strength or Constitution.

Cloud Strike. Your strike deals extra thunder damage and has the potential to turn you invisible to that creature until the start of your next turn or until you attack or cast a spell.

Fire Strike. You deal extra fire damage.

Frost Strike. You deal extra cold damage and have the potential to reduce the target’s speed to 0 until the start of your next turn.

Hill Strike. You deal extra damage of your weapon’s type and have the potential to knock the target prone.

Stone Strike. You deal extra force damage and have the potential to push the target back.

Storm Strike. You deal extra lightning damage and have the potential to give your target disadvantage on attack rolls until your next turn.

You can use this feat a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest.

Taking This Feat

As of Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos, some feats now come with prerequisites and can be gained by taking a specific background. For Strike of the Giants, you automatically gain the feat when you take the giant foundling background. However, you can also qualify to take the feat if you have martial weapon proficiency.

Strike of the Giants as a Prerequisite

Based on the option you choose from Strike of the Giants, you’ll be able to access more powerful feats. These feats are each tied to a giant of the ordning and strengthen your connection to them by providing Ability Score Increases and features related to their kind.

Building a Giant Foundling Character

While any type of creature could be found by a giant and adopted into their family, here are some optimization tips if you’re looking to build a giant foundling character.

Classes

The Strike of the Giants feat is meant mainly for melee martial characters, as it requires a melee attack or thrown weapon attack to trigger. Also, the DCs of the abilities that require them are based on your Strength or Constitution. While building a giant foundling from a Strength-based fighter, barbarian, or paladin may seem obvious, don’t overlook the classes that have a bit more range.

Path of the Giant Barbarians

Making their debut in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants, Path of the Giant barbarians channel the primordial power of giants to increase their size, infuse their weapons with elemental energy, and chuck everything from greatswords to their party members around the battlefield. Seeing as Strike of the Giants can trigger off a ranged weapon attack with a thrown weapon, you'll be able to activate this feature from across the battlefield as your greatsword slams into your enemy from 60 feet away. Also, because barbarians usually prioritize Strength and Constitution, you'll have your pick for which you use for your save DC.

Rune Knight Fighters

This fighter subclass introduced in Tasha's Cauldron of Everything uses the power of the giants' ancient language to infuse their attacks and gain additional benefits both in and out of combat. Like Path of the Giant barbarians, Rune Knight fighters can channel the might of the giants to increase their size and usually prioritize Strength and Constitution, making Strike of the Giants a perfect fit.

Dexterity Builds

Rogues and monks usually prioritize Dexterity, which more or less limits their weapon options to those with the finesse property. The dart is a simple ranged weapon that can be thrown using Dexterity instead of Strength, giving Dexterity builds options to activate Strike of the Giants from a distance.

The Soulknife rogue is probably the best-looking ranged class for this feature because their psychic blades deal more damage than a dart and stack with other subclass features as you level up. With that in mind, Dexterity builds looking to take this feat will either want to make sure their Constitution is high enough to have a respectable save DC or choose the Fire Strike option, which focuses on damage and doesn't impose a saving throw.

Play to Your Strengths

While giant foundlings are said to grow abnormally large for their species, this isn’t reflected in a change to your creature size.

What can make you feel bigger than your britches is the proficiency in Intimidation the giant foundling background provides. This can help offset a martial character’s propensity to dump Charisma in favor of Strength and Constitution.

Survival is another helpful skill proficiency that is granted by the background, which can make up for an underdeveloped Wisdom score and can come in handy when you’re lost in the wilderness or hoping to track down a foe.

Big Character Options, Big Adventures

The giant foundling background, Strike of the Giants feat, and other character options included in Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants bring a new scale to character creation, allowing adventurers to channel the primeval might and magic of giants against their enemies and weave it into their stories.

Mike Bernier (@arcane_eye) is the founder of Arcane Eye, a site focused on providing useful tips and tricks to all those involved in the world of D&D. Outside of writing for Arcane Eye, Mike spends most of his time playing games, hiking with his girlfriend, and tending the veritable jungle of houseplants that have invaded his house.